Friday, June 10, 2011

Weekender: The Top Five Things to Do Over the Next Three Days in the East Bay

Fri, Jun 10, 2011 at 6:00 AM

Lecherous GazeIt seems that ever since Eli's Mile High Club secured its cabaret license in early January, owner Jason Herbers has been throwing as many shows as humanly possible in the part-bar, art gallery, restaurant, tattoo shop, and music venue — making the old blues club the new go-to venue for live punk and metal shows. Lecherous Gaze — the Seventies-derived rock 'n' roll band comprised of members of Annihilation Time and fronted by singer LakisPanagiotopulos, whose baritone crooning falls somewhere in-between Danzig and Frank Sinatra — has become something of the bar's unofficial house band, playing shows at the space sometimes a few times a month. A group of solid and studied musicians, the band will aptly round out the bill when it plays along with metal riff-masters Serpent Crown and Santa Cruz doom rockers Dusted Angel, which features members of Eighties hardcore band Bl'ast. On Saturday, June 11, at Eli's Mile High Club (3629 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., Oakland). 7 p.m., $8. ElisMileHigh.com— Cassie Harwood

Zen With a KickstandSteven Barich continues exploring the theme of cultural coding as embodied in artifacts; his well-executed conceptual drawings depict objects yet unmade, like Borges' faux literary reviews of works by imaginary authors, lighted as if for a museum catalog. Four of the drawings (including "The Embrace" and "Concentricity") picture oddly shaped gerrymanderish fragments, flat like manuscripts, or sculptural like ceramics, of indecipherable pixel patterning, set atop carved-wood pedestals like the traditional Chinese "scholar stones" used for tabletop contemplation. Two larger drawings, in color ("Visual Block-Aid" and "Little Big Boy"), depict deckle-edged fragments of Noland-style stripe paintings mounted atop pedestals. "Zen with a Kickstand" depicts a Zen enso, or hand-painted circle, filled in with digital chatter, and propped up with bike hardware; a hand-painted print "with a single pixel filled with a unique color" is available. Zen with a Kickstand runs through July 1 at Branch Gallery (455 17th St., Oakland). 510-508-1764 or BranchBayvan.org — DeWitt Cheng

East Bay Front Runners Running needn't be a solitary sport, and for the East Bay Front Runners it's a veritable social occasion. Camaraderie and friendship take first billing at the group's weekly runs, with fitness a close second and competition a non-issue. The club formed in 1984 to serve the entire LGBT community and is also open to friends, family, and supporters; today it boasts about 120 members. On Saturday, June 11, as with every second Saturday, the Front Runners meet at Lake Merritt (1418 Lakeside Dr., Oakland) at 9 a.m., then proceed to Lynn & Lu's Escapade Cafe (3353 Grand Ave., Oakland) for a group brunch. Guests and non-members welcome. EastBayFrontRunners.org. — Nate Seltenrich

Rock Paper Scissors Cupcake BakeoffIs there anyone in the world — save for sufferers of Celiac disease and, perhaps, people who sell ice cream, regular-size cakes, pie, and other rival baked goods — that isn’t completely enamored of cupcakes these days? The good people at Rock Paper Scissors Collective have, mercifully, been giving the sweet-toothed masses what they want for three years running with their Cupcake Bakeoff, happening this year on Saturday, June 11, in which local bakers are invited to pull out their best original (vegan!) recipes and compete for a years’ worth of bragging rights. Participants have already submitted recipes and been selected to compete, but for $5 anyone can serve as a judge — plate, badge, scorecard, and all. In other words, you get to feel important while stuffing your face with sugar: a win-win if there ever was one. 2-5 p.m. RPSCollective.com — Ellen Cushing

Miggy Stardust SaturdaysFans of English punk, skinhead reggae, two-tone ska, and Northern soul music have a new place to stomp their boots in the East Bay, as DJ Miggy Stardust, aka Roberto Miguel Reyes, is now spinning records from Desmond Dekker to Morrissey at the Ruby Room (132 14th St., Oakland) on Saturdays. Reyes — perhaps better known as the trombone player for the English ska-punk band Citizen Fish — was offered the bar’s Saturday-night slot after a DJ event he threw last month, called “Too Much Too Young,” proved a success. Though the Oaklander has been DJing various events in the city for the past three years, he now has a consistent venue from which to share his eclectic musical tastes. It seems a sure bet that anyone who comes out to Miggy Stardust Saturdays will find themselves skanking, bopping, or otherwise responding in some sort of undulating physical reaction to Reyes’ catchy song selections, which he said by the end of the night will segue into Nineties hip-hop dance jams. Every Saturday, including June 11. 10 p.m., free. — Cassie Harwood

Bonus event, because we love you this much!: the Temescal-area food pod Bites on Broadwaybegins tonight, and according to organizer Karen Hester, participating trucks will include Fist of Flour, Go Streatery, El Taco Bike, and Sue's Sassy Pies. Because of some late-breaking permit issues, the event will not be held on the grounds of Oakland Technical High School, as we and others have previously reported, but rather just outside the school, on 45th Street.

Plus...

Catch a Movie: Take your pick: stunts, mutants, high drama, and January Jones in a catsuit in X-Men, or subtlety, pastoral charm, and goats aplenty in Le Quattro Volte — either way, you won't be disappointed.